Soul Bound
by Happyfish
Summary: Fem!Deidara. Potential for smut. Yaoi. In a world where everyone gets a name on their wrist to tell them who their Soul Mate- or Soul Bonded is, there are a few that get a choice. KisaIta, PeiDei. Slow relationship build, and mostly domestic fic. NOT CANNON
1. Chapter 1: The Start and Meetings

Untitled

Happyfish: I do not own anything pertaining to Naruto. This is my NaNoWriMo for 2014. I will try and get 50k words done. Not sure how successful it will be though. I will be updating this story daily. It will be a bit rough.

Summary: Naruto AU. Fem!Deidara. In a world of ninja and civilians there is a named that is inked into the skin of every person. The name of the one that is compatible with their 'soul mate' so to speak. However there is a rare case where someone is compatible with more than one person. They have to choose between one of the other.

Chapter One: The Start and Meetings

Deidara cursed to herself quietly, she had turned sixteen a week ago, and on the seventh day, normally at noon the name of the person whom she was supposed to marry would appear on her skin. Not much was known about the Soul Name, but what was known was that it always happened. There were rare cases in which there was no name that appeared. However, in order ensure pity, nor jealous did not occur on whether or not a person had a name or not there was a law that dictated that both wrists be covered by a leather wristband to cover the name, or lack thereof one. There was also a rare occurrence where there were two names on one person. The two names appeared at the same time on either wrist, Deidara was one of the 'lucky' few that could choose the person she was to end up with for the rest of her life. Having two names meant that she was compatible with two different people and she would have to decide which one she wanted. The one she chose the other name would fade and go onto a different person or, that person would be born a few years after. Neither name was from Iwa, and as the eldest grandchild of the Tsuchikage, that was going to be an issue.

At least potentially, if one or both of her Soul Named was in a station of power lesser than hers they would come to Iwa. However if they had a station of power that was greater than her she would have to go to their village, if they had equal status there would be a negotiation process to decide where one of them would go. Another thing was that one of the two soul mates was stronger than the other one, and as such protective instincts would come out and the one that was weaker would be protected and usually was submissive in the relationship. Unfortunately for Deidara, she recognized both names, Uchiha Madara and Uzumaki Nagato, one was a Kage and the other was going to be the head of his clan. They had a better relationship with Ame than they did with Konoha… but she was going to leave Iwa either way and her grandfather was going to pitch a fit if he found out either name. She had a friend or two in both villages, at first her friendship with Itachi had been a rocky one, but they had ironed out their differences and at times, worked well together.

Konan, on the other hand still slightly intimidated the younger kunochi. She had been allowed to have the mouth hands when she had showed her prowess at her blood limit the blast style, not the chest mouth but she was content and honored that she got what she was given. However, that would change once she told her grandfather that she was to be sent to a different ninja village. The painful and long process of getting rid of the hand mouths would begin almost immediately once she told them. The powerful kinjutsu was not to be given to another ninja village, she understood it, but she still resented the fact that her life would change, being sent to a different ninja village as the soul mate of another ninja could be hard on the one sent. They were not really trusted and they were watched, they were given missions, however not as many and they would have to go through rigorous testing and be limited in the types of missions they were given. Uchiha Madara and Uzumaki Nagato did not have her name or each other's names on their wrists, but simply a blank wrist until she chose. Her name would appear on the wrist of the one she chooses. However, she had a time limit to decide on who she was going to choose, if she did not choose within three years, the one she was geographically closest to would be her Soul Named. Her friend Itachi has the soul name of one of the Seven Swordsmen of Kiri, she commiserated with her friend, those seven were very powerful and most of them were rather bloodthirsty.

Deidara decided to push the issue to the back of her mind and she strapped the leather bands on her wrists and went to her Kage for a mission. She had been successful to drive the decision to the back of her mind and indeed she had forgotten about it, almost. There was a rumor that there might be a war between most of the weaker ninja villages versus some of the larger ones. That seems like folly since the larger villages were stronger. However, it was worrisome about how powerful Ame had become and their Kage was rumored to have the Rinnengan. There had been some skirmishes between Ame and Iwa as well as Ame and Konoha. Peace treaties between ninja villages were not held for too long, despite well wishes and the knowledge that war was not good for either side. Deidara shook her head, she was just an ANBU captain of Iwa, and it was not her place to worry about a potential war, merely make sure that she and her team completed their missions successfully with the lowest number of casualties as possible. The mission that she was on was to check the strength of the Ame ninja, in other words to have an 'accidental' skirmish with her team and an Ame team. Unfortunately the team that they had run into had their Kage; however he was not in his Kage outfit.

There had been rumors of Iwa and Konoha teams skirmishing with his teams so he decided to give a little show of his powers to the hostile team from either village. One fact that was also known about Soul Name was that if they were both ninja or were fighters of some sort. Even if they did not know, or if they did know that they were Soul Named to each other, their powers will not let them kill the other, either on purpose or by accident. They could still use their powers on each other, just not to kill, as the two teams engaged Pein decided to use his Rinnengan on the Iwa team. Deidara immediately told her team to back off, that was one of the reasons for their mission, to ascertain whether or not Ame had the rinnengan. She ordered her team to engage the others in the group and to split the Ame team up so that it was more like to win. She reminded that they were not there to kill, just make it so the other team was wounded enough so they could get back to Iwa to report the news that indeed the most powerful of Blood Limits was once again activated.

Deidara cautiously engaged the red haired squad leader she pulled out some of her already made clay art and flung it at him as she exploded it. One of the reasons was to partially blind him and get out of there, from what she had heard about the powers of the rinnengan, even though it was legend, as much as she was loathed to admit it. She was out matched, but her body seemed to be dragged from the sky, she had been flying on one of her birds out of clearing. However, her body seemed to dragged against her will back, mentally cursing she flung out some more clay behind her, this time to injure him and exploded it. Thankfully she was able to stop being pulled for a little bit before she was suddenly jerked out of the air and the red head was staring at her with a cool silver eyed gaze. She stared at her impassively back at him as she mentally went over strategies to get out of the situation she was in. With a slight frown that was hidden by her mask she used some of her clay and with a jolt that made her stomach sink as she realized that the person that she was fighting against was Uzumaki Nagato. Deidara was just barely able to escape him, and it frustrated her when she realized that he had let her go… but why he had she had several reasons, some of the most prevalent was that he wanted her to get away to tell her Kage about his strength. With a scowl, she disliked being used in such a way, but as a ninja she is a tool for her village to use, a pawn in the scheme of things.

Her team had survived, they had minor injuries, and however Deidara did not notice the thoughtful frown on Pein's face as he watched her leave. He had been using some of his more deadly powers, but she had survived the onslaught with an irritating easy. So he had let her go, as he knew that the ANBU captain was female, he could see it. Nagato recalled his ninja and he went back to Ame, pleased that he had impressed upon the Iwa team that Ame was indeed stronger than they thought and that it might give thoughts to their Kage that perhaps a treaty between their villages would be a good idea. Deidara gave her report to her Kage and several months later there was an envoy from Konoha to speak with the Kage about redrafting their treaty. One of the ninja that was in the envoy held the other name on her wrist, it was another thing that happened, through coincidence or through some other way if there was a choice of the Soul Name the person with the choice met both people at least once before choosing which one or the choice if they dithered on the decision was made for them.

By nature, Deidara was not one to leave off a decision for a later tomorrow, but one of reason she was being cautious, something that she was not with most things. On which one she chose was because there was going to be consequences to her choice, since she is the eldest grandchild of a Kage and she was going to marry and leave Iwa to another village it would help tie the two villages together. That could be quite helpful to them, Ame whose strength was increasing, and the strength is staying could become a threat and so to make sure they didn't go after Iwa she could chose Pein. However, he had a reputation, as did most incredibly powerful ad dangerous ninja that were infamous in the ninja world. Madara also had a reputation as well, both had doujutsus, incredibly powerful ones at that, if she chose Madara, it would help keep the tension between both villages down. However, either one she chose, she would be watched after and tested, both were stronger than her, as much as she was loathed to admit it and from what she knew from her friend. Uchiha were incredibly possessive and protective, it made her twitch slightly, and the leaf ninja she was assigned to was really annoying, ironically enough an Uchiha, and the other name on her wrist.

She admitted to herself, that he was attractive; they both were, in looks, power and position of authority. Deidara had to restrain herself from trying to strangle to smug, overconfident Uchiha, at times his stupid smirk almost made her apopletic in rage and the only reason why she hadn't tried to blow him up was because they were in Iwa and she would get into an insurmountable amount of trouble if she tried to hurt him. Even when he deserved it, sparring matches were a no go, after all the Konoha ninja were here for treaty talks. But, oh she wanted to kill him, barring that, marring his pretty, stupid face and getting rid of that stupid smirk of his. Deidara wondered why he was one of the people that was sent to Iwa by Konoha, he was so annoying.

"Why do you tease that poor Iwa Kunochi so much?" Hashirama asked his friend.

Madara smirked back at his friend, "Because I enjoy her attention on me, besides, she looks so adorable when she's angry."

Hashirama shook his head exasperated at his friend's behavior, and the two of them talked about other things and Madara teased him about his lack of success on wooing his Soul Named. After a few more weeks the treaty was finalized and signed and the leaf ninja left back to their own village. Deidara realized a few weeks after her birthday that she had only two years left to choose or having a choice foisted upon her by proximity. She had met both of the men that were on her wrist, one she had only brief impressions of since she fought him. The other one was a smug, arrogant and powerful chit that made her want to destroy something. Preferably, something he cared about, after taking a deep breath to calm down she had a meeting with a friend of sorts, Sasori. For some reason, most of Suna was rather surprised that Sasori and Deidara were friends of sorts; she found out that Sasori was selectively social. One of the things that she did was drag him out of his creepy work shop and dragged him around, much to his annoyance. Once or twice she had wondered if they could be Soul Named, however they argued too much and although they were friends, it wasn't to be, his Soul Name was someone else.


	2. Chapter 2: A Choice and The Consequences

Untitled

Chapter 2: A Choice and the Consequences

Happyfish: I do not own anything.

Summary: In the last chapter Deidara met her two Named, she is not really inclined to choose either one of them.

'thought'

Fighting between Iwa and Ame had increased, not so much that it could be called a war, but it was hinting of war to come. Worrying about the minute details was something that Deidara disliked to do, and unfortunately for her, time marched on despite what mortals thought. Deidara was fighting the God of Ame again, she had been at a distant post from Iwa for several months and for some reason she had felt that she had forgotten something a few days ago but had shrugged it off once she checked all her equipment and that she had it once she left for guard duty. It was not as if she had forgotten to make a report- she had done that last night. As she fought against him one of her wrists tingled oddly and as they two battled, she frowned slightly, fighting him was rather difficult and her bombs did not seem as effective. It clicked when she remembered that he was the other Named of hers. During the fight a Kunai had sliced off one of her wrist bands, and she registered briefly, and with relief that it was blank. A small of her blanched at that fact and she ignored the little voice panicking slightly at that fact; she needed to survive the fight that she was in.

Despite knowing that she was fighting a losing battle he had more chakra and it seemed like his stamina was greater than hers. She was losing, and losing fast mentally cursing herself for instigating a doomed fight he had caught her and pinned her down she used her free arm to try and strike at him, however he just caught her hand. Throughout the fight he seemed to just be calm, if perhaps vaguely amused and perhaps a little confused about something. It was damned insulting with that stupid tiny smirk on his face. Deidara realized with a small jolt that the name on his wrist was hers, and not only that but he did not had the traditional wrist band on his wrist to cover the name. She made sure not to react to the name; however he must have read something in her blank expression.

"You recognize the name on my wrist," he stated flatly. "So my Soul Bonded is from Tsuchikagure. Tell me, do you know who this person is?"

On his wrist in black was Iwa Deidara, she frowned slightly at him, during the fight her ANBU mask had been shattered, lying would not end well.

"I... do, although why I should give an enemy ninja information about a fellow ninja of Iwa is beyond foolishness." she replied, wondering why she was talking so formally.

Pein narrowed his eyes at her and he replied, "It would be in your best interest to tell me about my Soul Bonded."

"..." Deidara kept her face and eyes devoid of emotion as she tried to think of a way to get out of this situation. She had not realized that her time to decide was up and that geographic proximity was forcing the issue and she was now Soul Bonded to him.

"Very well... I will release you so that you can go to your Kage and tell him about this vital piece of information... Tell him that my Soul Bonded has a week to reach Ame territory before I start to search for them... and trust me it will not be pleasant." Pein warned.

She gave him a terse nod as the other released her, what he hinted at was not good, not at all, so she sent the message to her grandfather about the fight in a report. He was not happy, particularly since she had kept quiet about her Soul Named, she explained that she had a choice between two before this incident happened. After a little bit of deliberation she was ordered to go to Ame, while they were relatively certain they could stave off an attack from Ame. A direct attack by Pein himself would not end well for Iwa as much as they loathed admitting it. After packing up the few items that she held onto for sentimental value as well as normal things that ninja packed up as well as a few outfits she left for Ame. She had heard from a few that Ame is aptly named; clay did not do well in torrential rain… Which is what she is going to be stuck in for the rest of her life most likely. One of the few upsides is that her friend Konan is an Ame ninja; she spotted her friend and waved to her. Reluctantly she took off her leather wristband and showed her friend that she is the Soul Named of her Kage.

Konan smiled at her, there was something about the way she looked at her that made her heart sink to her toes.

"Deidara… so you are the Soul Named of our Kage and god." Konan stated.

Deidara stared at her friend and asked uncertainly, "… you are joking about calling him a god aren't you?"

Although Ame had become a bit more open in the last few years, most ninja were uncertain about the Ame ninja… They could be rather strange at times, so far as Deidara knew, Konan seemed rather normal… unfortunately that turned out to be not so true after all… she viewed her Kage as a god… However, she had to admit to herself when she had _fought _him a few days ago that he is incredibly powerful. She had admitted to herself that part of the reason why she had not died was because the Soul Bond wouldn't allow soul mates to kill each other, also he seemed more like he was showing off than trying to kill her.

The two kunochi walked in silence as they entered Ame, it was one of the strangest villages she had seen, and almost everything was made out of metal or something. It was a completely industrialized city. All of the buildings, and she had to use her chakra to walk on top of the water that collected in places. They entered the Kage tower and after drying off, Deidara waited to be called to talk to her Soul Named.

An orange haired man with a smile on his face sat next to her and introduced himself, "Hello, my name is Yahiko, so you are Nagato's Soul named."

She shook his hand and replied. "Yes."

'Unfortunately,' deidara thought to herself. 'Oh, why didn't I choose that annoying Uchiha?'

After exchanging a few more pleasantries Konan came out and told her that Nagato was ready for her. With a slight smirk on her face she wondered how he would react to finding out that the person that he had sort of thought

"I did not tell him that you are his Soul Bond, after all he should have the pleasure of being surprised and get to know you without interference from others." Konan replied just as Deidara opened the door.

Deidara nodded to her in thanks and opened the door, after shutting it she stared at the red haired Kage with a slight smirk on her face. Pein was able to keep his reaction to a bare minimum of raising one of his eyebrows slightly.

"I should have asked you more questions when I caught you." Pein stated.

Deidara shrugged pretending to be caviler about the whole situation, "That was your mistake."

Without being told or asked to she carelessly flopped onto one of the chairs in front of his desk and watched him through her eyelashes. "I told you the truth; I do know the person on your wrist."

=-=-=- change of place and time =-=-=-

Itachi had formally shown his clan head the Soul Name on his wrist, his father congratulated him on having such a powerful person on his wrist. Itachi gave him a slight nod and he was ordered to inform the Hokage of his Soul Named. He did so without reluctance, from what he had heard about Hoshigaki-san, he the leader of his clan and one of the Seven Swordsmen of Kiri. After a few weeks Itachi was given a pass to Kiri so that he could go to Kiri and get to know Hoshigaki Kisame. Kisame had been informed that his Soul Named was coming to Kiri, he had been incredibly happy when his Soul Name had appeared on his wrist. He was also slightly worried as well since Uchiha's are incredibly powerful, also Ninja villages are loathed to give up even a single member of Shinobi clan, particularly one with a Doujutsu.

Kisame had made arrangements to have one of his cousins' take over as clan head. After a few weeks of his Soul Named getting to know him here in Kiri, they would go to his village. Normally the person with the higher station got to stay in their village; however there were special cases, like the one with his and Itachi's where he would have to live in Konoha for the rest of his days. Not a horrible prospect, but he would have to find a worthy young kiri ninja that Samehada would accept as a partner. After Samehada grumbled she had chosen a young ninja, Zabuza's apprentice in fact, Haku as her new partner.

It was important that not even one of the Seven Swords fell into a different shinobi village's hands. The other villages knew that there were incredible properties to the different swords that would be highly coveted and they had tried to simulate the creation process, on that only a few in Kiri knew how they were made, Kisame being one of them. Kisame watched the young Uchiha, he was a short kid, it made him feel kind of creepy for having someone as young as Itachi as his Soul Named, but there was nothing he could do about it. He had heard about Uchiha Itachi, a powerful kid, brilliant too, Kisame had been teased a little by his friends that he was a cradle robber. To which, Kisame had protested, it wasn't his fault that Fate or whatever it was that chooses Soul Named that Itachi is his.

Kisame walked out to meet his Soul Name and formally introduced himself to Itachi who replied back politely. He had heard that most Uchiha were very quiet, from being aloof, reserved or simply shy depended on who you asked. Despite his rather fearsome looks, Kisame is a social person that liked talking with others. When not in Battle Mode he is a rather easy-going and relaxed person. He tried to get Itachi to speak to him some more however, the kid seemed rather closed mouthed which slightly depressed Kisame, not that he let it show.

Itachi had heard that Kisame was on the taller side, Kiri ninja, or at least most of them seemed rather tall and Kisame was no exception to that stereotype. He did not speak simply because he had nothing to say. Also he was observing his Soul Named, Itachi noted he did not have his infamous sword strapped to his back.

"Where is Samehada?" he asked.

"I no longer wield Samehada because you and I are going to be living in Konoha for the rest of our lives as ninja… hopefully they'll let me be a ninja." The last part was said under his breath, however Itachi caught it.

"I do believe that Konoha will allow you to remain a Shinobi, after all you are a rather powerful ninja and it would be a waste of your skills if they didn't allow you to continue your career." Itachi stated quietly.

Itachi showed his passport at the station and after a few minutes he was cleared to go into Kiri, with Kisame as his guide he was able to walk around and see a lot of the village. They got to know each other a bit over the few weeks that they were in Kiri; one of the surprising things that Itachi found out about Kisame was how kind he could be and how good he was with kids, not just preteens, but little kids as well.

Kisame said his goodbyes and had finished packing and the two of them headed to Konoha, it had been a rather interesting experience for Itachi to be immersed in Kirigakure for a few weeks. There were many things that were similar or the same in Konoha, but there were a few things that were different. One of the main differences was the food, most of the meat they had were fish, or a different kind of seafood. Some of the seafood he had was stuff he had not had before, it was a fascinating learning experience, at least culinary, and also he was able to see how Kiri ninja acted around each other in their home village. Something they did seemed a little strange to him, however he chalked that up to cultural differences.

One of the first things Itachi found out about Kisame was he liked to talk, he had an interesting humor that would sometimes get him to actually laugh, barring that a small smile. Which would bring about a bright grin on Kisame's face when he saw it, Kisame liked it when Itachi smiled, it lit up his face and he looked his age, rather than slightly older like he did usually. Once they got to Konoha, Shisui, Itachi's older cousin and a person whom he viewed as his older brother came over to size up Itachi's soul named.

Kisame had also heard about Shisui of the Body Flicker, with a sharp smile he greeted Itachi's cousin and bantered with him as he checked in. A few days ago, within the Uchiha compound one of the unused houses had been outfitted to be used by the two of them for the rest of their days.

"Oh, Itachi you got a letter from you friend from Iwa," Shisui said offhandedly.

"Thank you Shisui." Itachi replied as he took the letter from him.

He read the letter and sighed a little, Deidara had been basically coerced to go to her Soul Named, he had warned her that not at least contacting her Soul Named, or telling someone about her Soul Named would get her into trouble. However, his friend is stubborn and sometimes did not listen to sound advice of others.

"What did you friend say?" Kisame asked.

"She is reaping the consequences of not telling anyone about her Soul Name and now she is stuck going to Ame." He replied.

"Ame… hm… I have been there once," Kisame said, "it is one of the oddest places I have been to. The people there are a little…unusual."

Itachi inquired about his experience in the highly insular shinobi village and Kisame told him as much as he was able to. He had been on a mission after all and there were some details that he was allowed to divulge.

"You are not what I expected," Kisame admitted to Itachi, "however, I am glad that I was wrong in my preconceptions of you."


	3. Chapter 3: Getting to Know Each Other

Soul Bound

Happyfish: I do not own anything.

Summary: So the time of choice has ended for Deidara and she is Soul Named with Pein. Kisame and Itachi have met and are starting to get to know each other.

Chapter 3: Getting to know Each Other

Deidara was still a bit upset that Pein had implicitly threatened Iwa in order for her to come to Ame; she would have eventually come here anyway. When those with a Choice had chosen, or they had run out of time and the name had been finalized it is in human nature to try and find that person. Another thing is that even people that do not have a choice, if they did not actively seek out their Soul Named, they would be forced to seek them out the longer they waited and not tried to find them. A deep yearning would slowly build and they would feel pushed to go in one direction or another to find each other. She knew all of that; it wasn't in her nature to wait and think too hard on decisions, something that had caused her no end of trouble at times.

She was not a fool, there were other things known about being Soul Bonded, there is a 'courting' phase where from as little as nine months to as much as five years, depending on if they two knew each other, as well as other factors like personalities and how much time they interacted with each other as well as a few other things. Depended on how long that phase is, for ninja the courting phase was a year and a half to two years. Ninja did not usually have a long life expectancy, so getting love, pleasure or whatever they could as quickly as possible, such as being with their soul bonded as long as they could was something very important. After the courting phase there was the 'bonding' phase where the two in question would become even closer, emotionally and physically than in the courting phase.

The bonding phase would take several months to one year, this phase is shorter than the courting one because the two know each other and are, if not in love, then rather fond of each other and care for each other a lot. During the bonding phase the stronger of the two would become highly possessive and protective of the one of lesser strength. One the boding phase is over the relationship and the Soul Bond is settled and the two of them, depending on the strength of the bond could sense each other emotions to actually being able to communicate telepathically to one another at a certain distance. Another thing was during the bonding phase the two could be only a few feet away from each other, otherwise they would feel discomfort to being unconscious if they were too far away from each other.

She would not try to sabotage any potential relationship between the two of them, but she would not make it easy on him either. Was it petty of her to do that… yeah, probably but she felt that she was at least a little vindicated on doing so. She spoke with him for a few more minutes before she was bade to leave and explore Amekagure.

"Could I have Konan-san guide me if she is not busy?" Deidara asked.

"Why Konan?" he asked intrigued.

"I have met her before a couple of times." She replied with a shrug.

"Very well." Pein replied with a nod. "She can show you around. I want to have dinner with you tonight at one of the restaurants in Ame."

'Would it be hard for him to ask?' she wondered slightly cross, however she was used to that kind of behavior from her grandfather.

"Very well."

She would try to be civil with him, but if he annoyed her she would tell him, after all from what she had heard honesty and communication is good for a healthy relationship… Although being deceitful was more normal for ninja rather than being truthful. Konan was still in the lobby of Amekage tower talking to the orange haired man, Yahiko she recalled his name.

"So, how'd it go?" the orangette asked.

Deidara shrugged, "We talked, he had paperwork to do and I want to explore Amekagure."

"Wonderful," Yahiko said with a smile, "Konan and I can show you around the marvelously wet place that is known as our home."

She chuckled a little at that and followed the two Deidara noticed the relaxed air around the pair of Ame ninja and how they would casually touch each other on occasion.

"Are the two of you Soul Bonded?" she asked curiously.

"Yes," said Konan. "Nagato predicted that we would be."

"Predicted? How long have you known each other?" she asked.

"Since we were very little we have known each other, we were on the same Genin team." Yahiko replied.

"So you know each other and him well then?" Deidara asked.

The three of them talked about things and she was shown around, it was a cooler climate here than in Iwa, she had wished she had put on a couple of extra layers of protection. While her water resistant clothes helped, the cold water seeped into her clothes and chilled her. Deidara made sure not to shiver but she had a slight worry that she might get ill.

"Part of the reason why it rains so much is it's a jutsu." Yahiko said, "Nagato does a jutsu with the rain so he can sense everyone in the village and who enters and who leaves it. That is part of the reason why we have no spies from other villages."

"Is he making it rain?" Deidara asked.

"No," Konan said.

"Good because then I would have strong words with him." She muttered.

Yahiko laughed a little, "I like you, and you're funny."

"Thanks." She replied. "Konan, you didn't tell me you knew your Kage."

Konan shrugged, "It did not seem important, besides you did not tell me who you're Soul Named was."

She was upset that she was not informed by her young friend, it was a private affair and some could be targeted for who they were Soul Named with. It had happened in the past before the formation of the villages and even after it happened sometimes they were killed or captured to be ransomed off. Particularly for ninja or ninaj named it was better to keep things like that quiet as it could be used against you. Despite having little vegetation or rock formations it was a unique looking village. With the tall buildings that looked like they could pierce the sky, it still seemed a bit alien to her the metal city, but it had a certain artistic appeal. It was getting close to the appointed time for her to choose a restaurant she had asked her two guides about what they would choose to eat at. She got several choices, however she chose the place that the two recommended that had good Bakudan, she liked Bakudan it was her favorite food.

"Have you chosen a restuarnt?" Pein asked her.

Deidara twitched a little as she turned to him; she had instinctively drawn a weapon as she had turned toward him.

"In the future, do not sneak up on me would you." She snapped at him.

It had startled her a little bit that he had been able to sneak up on her, she had made sure to be aware of her surroundings, as a good ninja did, particularly when they were in a new place. She had pocketed her weapon and scowled at him.

"We are going to this place," she said nodding towards the Bakudan stand, it also sold a few other food stuffs, but she did not care about those.

"Very well." Pein said with a nod.

The Bakudan was good, it tasted different than the Bakudan in Iwa, the best Bakudan was in Iwa, but it was good enough. They ate and spoke about their different likes and dislikes and other such getting to know each other questions and answers. Once they were finished with their meal, Pein insisted on paying for the whole meal and the two of them left to go to the Kage Manor. It was something that was common throughout the ninja villages, both large and small was that the Kage had the largest and most luxurious living quarters, it was a way to do a one-upmanship that was common to do. He had shown her a few living quarters for her to choose from and informed her of where his living quarters were. She picked one and he left her to her own devices, after setting up her room the way she liked it, including traps and half of the place to become a studio she got dressed for bed and went to sleep.

=-=-=-=- Change of place =-=-=-=-

"It is a good thing that you are different than what I perceived you might be," Kisame said.

Itachi was about to say something when a young Uchiha that looked rather a lot like him, closer looking than Shisui had.

"Aniki!" the younger ninja said hugging Itachi tightly. "I missed you."

There was a very happy smile on Itachi's face, it was not huge, but it was there, Kisame marveled at the gently, loving look on his face.

"Hello otouto," Itachi said. "I have missed you as well."

Sasuke looked up curiously at Kisame and after releasing his brother he went over to Kisame looked him over curiously.

"It's nice to meet you Hosigaki-san!" he said with a polite bow, "please take care of my brother."

"Otouto," Itachi said with mild disapproval.

"Sometimes he works himself too hard or he thinks too much and he needs someone to pull him out of it." Sasuke said while dodging from his brother.

Unfortunately, Itachi was still much faster and much more experienced, particularly in younger brother wrangling. So Itachi had Sasuke in one arm, he tried to tell Kisame a couple of other things but Itachi placed a hand over his mouth and gave him a look that said, 'quiet you.' Kisame was rather amused by the interaction between the siblings, he also noticed a more playful and gentle side to Itachi come out as soon as he saw the younger one.

"Aren't you a cute and concerned little brother," Kisame said with a slight smirk he ruffled the short spiky hair.

Sasuke protested the 'cute' comment and was turning a light shade of red; Kisame chuckled a little and said, "As many stories as you have about him, and some of them are potentially black mail worthy, I bet he has many more of you since you are his younger brother."

Itachi had talked about his slightly mischievous younger brother whom he worried about from time to time since he would sometimes become withdrawn. He knew why he did, the clan viewed Sasuke as a badly made copy of Itachi and always compared Sasuke to Itachi… and none of what they said was complimentary… Sasuke had no sense of self amongst his clan, or at least amongst most of them. Even their parents dismissed him at times. It frustrated Itachi to no end; Sasuke had given up on gaining their approval when he was eight years old. He trained hard and tried his best, to become the best he could be, but rarely did he ever tell of his successes and accomplishments, particularly since it seemed like they didn't care. It worried Itachi about Sasuke's apathy to most of the clan, that he might do something or let something happen and not particularly care.

Kisame stuffed the depressing thoughts out of sight and said, "You're older brother said that you are thinking about becoming a Swordsman."

"Yes, I do." He replied surprised that Itachi had told him that.

"Well… I could give you a few pointers from time to time." He stated.

Sasuke smiled at him and thanked him for the offer and he would take Kisame up on it. Kisame just chuckled and told him that it was fine.

"I have a mission I have to go on with my teammates," he informed them both. "bye!"

"Ah to be that age again," Kisame said with a chuckle, "You're younger brother is as you described him."

Itachi nodded the two of them entered the house they had been given, it was clean, fresh food in the fridge and canned food in the pantry. The beds were made and it looked like the place was ready to be inhabited it.

"I would not have minded a two-bedroom apartment," Kisame stated after he took a quick look around the two story house and came back down where he had spotted Itachi.

Itachi shrugged, "My family does not do things by halves, and besides it's… easier if all Uchiha and their Bonded have a home within the compound. It makes the civilians feel safer."

"I noticed that there is a small pond in the backyard," Kisame said, "Which room do you want?"

Itachi looked around the rooms and chose the left bedroom, Kisame had chosen the right one, they had decided that once they both felt comfortable, they would both move into the master bedroom at a later, unspecified date. Once they were unpacked they headed out to speak with the Hokage, Shusui had come back and informed them that the Hokage had requested to speak to the newest couple of Soul Bonded. It was common that the ninja couples, particularly the couples that have one that is from a different ninja village and speak with them. Kisame was going to head to T&I for a few hours and be allowed to be a special jounin. It did not bother him the decrease in rank and the increase in being watched. They were ninja after all and being suspicious was natural.

One of the interrogators was someone he had met before on the field of battle, Morino Ibiki, a rather tough Konoha ninja that had earned Kisame's respect. During the war, the two had a sort of cat and mouse sort of routine, sometimes it would be Morino chasing after the group of Kiri specialists that Kisame was guarding and sometimes it would be Kisame chasing after a group that Morino was guarding or had kidnapped.

"Well, well, of course they'd choose you," Kisame said with an amused smirk as he leaned back in his chair. Morino was more in the psychological torturer, but he was not afraid of doing physical torture, the scars on his head and face attested to that.

"It's been a long time Hosigaki." Ibiki replied.

After a few minutes of banter they went down to business and the questions about everything and anything Morino made sure not to be insulting with his questions, but Kisame was eager to leave the depressing little metal box the stuffed him into. He wasn't a prisoner, but he did not like being in such a claustrophobic place. After a few more minutes he was allowed to leave, he did so and complained a bit to Itachi, before starting the tour of Konohakagure.


End file.
